Today was a virtual meeting day for the Green Bay Packers with the second week of organized team activities wrapping with another practice on Friday. Just after lunch, the offensive coaching staff paraded through the zoom rooms to give their thoughts on where they feel their side of the ball is at still very early in the off-season program.
Offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett batted leadoff.
Without Aaron Rodgers and the team’s top five receivers absent through the first two weeks, Hackett said the staff is still installing and working on concepts at the same rate as if those players were on the field. Nathaniel said it’s nice to be reunited with Blake Bortles, the pair spent five years together in Jacksonville where Hackett may have gotten the best out of the former number one pick the year the Jaguars reached the AFC Championship game. He confirmed my observation from Wednesday’s open practice that Bortles has developed a little drop down hitch in his wind up before his delivery. That has come from working in a couple of different systems with differing fundamental approaches. Hackett also can’t wait to devise ways to get third round pick Amari Rodgers involved on the play sheet.
Quarterback coach and passing game coordinator Luke Getsy covered a lot of ground on Jordan Love as you’d expect. Getsy said Love has made great strides in the mental processing of the play calls, the play design and read priorities. Luke was quick to point out that Jordan has also improved greatly in physically playing the position, from things as simple as backing up after the snap, plants and steps or moving and throwing on the run. But is he ready to play an NFL game? Getsy admits that’s still an unknown but Love will get that chance come August.
Running backs coach Ben Sirmans can’t wait to cut loose the 1-2 punch of Aaron Jones and A.J. Dillon. He’s expecting a big jump from Dillon after his start and stop rookie year. There was no off-season program and just as he started to get a couple of touches early in the regular season, he moved into the Covid protocol room and eventually burst out with a big game against the Titans. With Jamaal Williams now in Detroit, Sirmans said the battle for the number three running back is wide open. The candidates include Dexter Williams, Patrick Taylor, Mike Weber and draft pick Kylin Hill. The final exam will have to wait until the pre-season. What will separate the field? Sirmans simply said “production” against a defense. Gaining yards on carries, running proper routes, catching the ball, making the right decisions in pass protection. That could be a spirited battle.
Wide receivers coach Jason Vrabel has been dealt the short straw so far. His top five players have yet to arrive and he’s giving the likes of Reggie Begelton, Juwann Winfree and Malik Taylor a huge amount of reps. There are a couple of even younger players trying to impress, San Jose State’s Bailey Gaither certainly did with a deep catch on Wed nesday. Devin Funchess remains the mystery man in all of this. The former Panther and Colt opted out last year and Vrabel said he’s met the veteran in person only once, briefly when he paid a quick visit to Green Bay,
Up front, offensive line coach Adam Stenavich said he’s just beginning the process of finding out which of his players are best fits at certain positions and in the meantime, is covering everything at warp speed to see how his collection of young linemen are handling it. The Packers have drafted six linemen in the past two years and they’ll be scrambling for roster spots or practice squad tickets. With David Bakhtiari making remarkable process coming off ACL surgery, Stenavich said the team is going to be very careful with the All Pro as the summer stretches on but Adam was intrigued by what he saw from Ben Braden who worked at left tackle with the starting unit this week.
Finally, tight ends coach Justin Outten said he’s enjoying his room with everyone back. Robert Tonyan has what it takes to become an elite NFL tight end in Outten’s opinion, he just has to build off his 2020 breakthrough campaign. The players he’s most anxious to see once camp arrives are Josiah Deguara who’s rookie season was derailed by injury, Jace Sternberger who might have the clock ticking loudly entering his third season and Dominque Daffney who jumped right into the fray down the stretch, earning snaps on the field with an incredibly diligent approach to learning the offense.
